


A Merging of Souls

by Darkess93



Category: Avengers, Charmed, Marvel, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD
Genre: Coulson is an over-worked and underpaid protective daddy, F/M, Fury is a grump, Half Whitelighter/Witch OFC, Jane's a little spitfire when you mess with her science, Magic, Pietro Lives!, Prank Wars, Protective Tony Stark, Scientist wrangling Darcy, Skye is a bamf, Soulmate AU, Telepath!Darcy Lewis, That's kind obvious but only if you've seen Charmed, Very AU, Witch!Skye | Daisy Johnson, Witches, and adorable, loki's a little shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-08-16 16:17:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8109094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkess93/pseuds/Darkess93
Summary: "Y'know Tony, when I said you should help her, I didn't mean adopt her"A story in which Tony Stark saves a young woman, finds out she has amnesia, adopts her, and gets very protective when his friends find out about her. Especially when she and Steve get very close





	1. "Well...that could've gone better"

**Author's Note:**

> Please, please, PLEASE tell me if my character Cora comes across as Mary Sue-ish in any way, thank you and enjoy :) Also, to anyone who is Russian or speaks Russian fluently, I apologise if the bit of Russian in this chapter is butchering the language, I don't speak Russian and I got it from Google Translate (this will make sense when you get to the part of this chapter. I don't want to give anything away)
> 
> I HAVE CHANGED ME USERNAME FROM DarkessKnightStarLady TO Darkess93 - I HAVEN'T STOLEN ANYONE'S WORK, DON'T WORRY

Tony Stark is many things, but a doctor he is not. Which is what he thinks this maybe 20 something woman may very well need. That and perhaps a round the clock protection detail.

He had no idea why or how this young woman got HYDRA in a tizzy, but he was determined to get her out of there.

So he had.

 

"Stark? Where are you? You've got an Avengers teleconference briefing with Fury in fifteen minutes" Coulson said over the phone

"Sorry Agent, Nick's gonna have to wait" Tony said before he hung up his phone and continued to tail the two HYDRA Agents that were chasing a young brunette through the back alley streets of Malibu, California.

He sped up his pace when he heard the woman cry out and fall to the ground with an audible thud. It was 10:30 on a Friday night in the suburbs. Don't ask why Tony Stark is in a place like this on a Friday night. Tony really doesn't want to go there right now. Let's just say he needed some fresh air and leave it at that.

He manages to catch one of the HYDRA Agents off guard, they'd fallen behind a little so Tony pounces. Grabbing the guy by the back of his shirt and yanking backwards as hard as he can. The agent is about to yell for his partner but is silenced by Tony putting a hand over his mouth. Tony drags him backwards and puts an arm around the agent's neck. He squeezes until the guy passes out. He figures that Fury might be happier with at least one live HYDRA Agent to interrogate in the aftermath of Tony blowing him off.

But hey, he was out for a walk, he saw someone being chased by dodgy people, so he reacted. When he heard the agents mention the Winter Soldier, he knew that they were HYDRA. Though why the hell they'd be looking _here_ of all place for Bucky Barnes is something that he can't quite figure out. He then lays the guy down on the ground and then grabs his gun before rushing off to get the other agent.

He rounds a corner, gun raised but safety still on, only to stop in shock as the agent screams. He's surrounding by sparkly glowing blue/white orbs as he's thrown backwards. The agent hits a wall and the lights disappear before he lands on the ground with a loud thud. Tony doesn't know if the guy is dead or just unconscious.

Tony quickly tucks the gun into his belt on his back before slowly and cautiously moving over to where the brunette is standing. She's got a hand raised in the air, pointing towards where the now immobile agent is now laying. Her tiny 5ft'3, slightly thick and curved frame is shaking and her dark brown eyes are wide with shock, fear and disbelief. There's blood dripping down her face from a head wound. It stands out in stark contrast against her medium olive toned skin.

"Well...that could've gone better" Tony quips before even thinking about it. He curses his damn mouth when the woman jumps a mile at his sudden voice. She hadn't seen him before. Tony raises his hands.

"Hey! It's ok, I'm here to help" he tells her gently

"You- I...I don't- I _never_ meant to do that! I didn't mean to do that, I swear! But he just, they kept chasing me and then that one came running at me so I just..." She explained hastily before trailing off. She looked on the verge of having a panic attack she was that scared

"Reacted?" Tony guessed curiously, she looked him right in the eye at that

"Yeah, it was a pure reaction. I don't know why I did that" she said honestly as she lowered her hand

"Do you know who I am?" he asked her as he slowly moved closer.

She nodded her head

"Ok, so you know I'm not gonna hurt you" Tony said as he quickly shot a text to Coulson, telling him about the HYDRA agents but leaving out the bit about the girl. Something kept him from telling Coulson about her.

"What's your name?" Tony asked her then

"My, my name?" she said in confusion. Tony panicked a bit at this. Her eyes were starting to look glassy and her eyelids were starting to droop as she swayed on her feet a bit.

"Yeah, what's your name?" Tony asked little louder, trying to keep her alert.

"My name is Cora" she said before passing out. She wasn't even able to say her last name before the pain overtook her. He only barely managed to catch her in time before she hit the ground

"Ok Cora, guess you're coming with me" Tony said as he summoned a Suit and took her to his place.

 

 

Once she was settled in and a doctor had seen to her injuries, Tony called Pepper and asked her to come home. Tony didn't leave the woman's side at all, he was worried about her. There was something about her that did funny things to his insides, and it's not the sexy kind of funny things, he thinks it might be the _caring_ kind of funny things.

Pepper Potts came home to her boyfriend sitting in a chair next to a large bed with a very unconscious and injured female laying in it.

"I'm almost too afraid to ask" Pepper quipped quietly as she slowly crept into the room

"You won't wake her, don't worry" Tony assured her as he pulled Pepper into his arms and sat her on his lap

"What's happened?" Pepper asked in a curious and gentle tone as she ran a hand through Tony's hair.

"I needed a walk" Tony started to explain

"Oh" Pepper said in understanding. She didn't need a further explanation, when Tony said he "needed a walk", that was the only thing that could calm him down these days. In the aftermath of the Battle of New York, Tony has been prone to panic attacks. When Pepper found out, she made him take longs walks if he ever felt like he was going to lose it. At first Pepper would join him, but most times the pace he walked was too much for her, so she sent him out alone.

"I needed a walk and then I saw this girl being attacked, she managed to get away but they kept coming after her. So I followed them and...yeah..." Tony explained quietly

"Should I ask who "they" are?" Pepper asked gently, Tony vehemently shook his head.

After the alien invasion, he'd become quite clingy and protective of her if he knew that there were bad guys in the area. He wasn't paranoid, just now more cautious and protective of her.

"This girl's in really bad shape, Pep" Tony told her

"You should help her then" Pepper told him simply.

And Tony did.

 

 

He helped her with everything he could. He made her do everything the doctor said to do to get better. Even when she stubbornly tried to do things on her own. He helped her practice with her powers. Despite the fact that they both had no idea where they came from, he let her use one of his larger labs and just let her loose in there. They both quickly figured out that she had some variation of telekinetic powers. Though they worked differently than how they'd both expected them to work. Tony would describe it as being able to teleport things, and people, away from and towards her. At one point, Cora even accidentally teleported him outside. She apologised to him for that for the next week.

Another thing they both figured out pretty quickly was that Cora had absolutely no idea who she was. She only knew her first name because she'd said it to Tony before passing out when they both first met. Tony had his new AI FRIDAY looking through every database possible to find her, but there wasn't a single piece of information to be found. It was maddening, and Pepper was quickly coming to find it concerning. She wanted to at least tell Coulson, but Tony wouldn't let her. Tony still couldn't figure out why he was becoming so close to Cora, nor why he was becoming so protective of her, but Pepper was starting to realise the reason.

She wanted to tell him, but saying it out loud right now might trigger a panic attack, or break him. She couldn't do that.

She couldn't tell the man she loves that the reason Cora is so familiar to him is because she's a near carbon copy of Ella Stark, Tony's younger sister. Who had died way too young at the tender age of 14. Ella was killed by a hit and run driver a month before Tony's parents were killed. Tony had been 17 and a total wreck during that period of his life. Happy had told her all about that dark time a few months after she had first started working for Tony Stark.

Cora's powers were advanced, and she got the feeling that it's because she's had them for many years. She also got the feeling that there was a lot more to her powers than telekinesis. Tony kept saying that they were teleporting powers, but it didn't sound right to her so she stubbornly kept calling them telekinetic powers.

One day when she and Tony were in one of his labs, she discovered that she was bilingual. Tony was working on one of his old cars and Cora had decided to tinker with something that had been left laying around. She seemed to have a knack for tinkering. Something had gotten stuck, Tony had yanked too hard on something, and had dropped a spanner on his foot. He'd sworn loudly in Chinese, and Cora had just rushed over to him, asking him if he was ok, and worrying about a possible broken toe. It was when she'd stopped babbling in worry that she noticed Tony giving her a strange look.

"What?" she asked in curious confusion

"You were speaking in Chinese" he told her strangely. Cora gave him a confused frown

"What?" she asked again in confusion

"You were speaking in Chinese" Tony repeated

"I was?" she said in surprise

"Yep, I'm pretty sure you were. I don't know a lot of Chinese, just some colourful swear words from Firefly. But that sounded like Chinese to me" Tony explained

He'd been having a Firefly marathon all week that week

" _It was_ definitely _Chinese, Sir_ " FRIDAY supplied helpfully

Purely on a whim, Cora got an idea

"Uh, FRIDAY?" Cora began awkwardly, she hasn't really gotten used to speaking to thin air like this

" _Yes, Cora?_ " FRIDAY replied promptly, it had taken some time, but Cora had finally gotten the AI around to addressing her by her first, and only, name. Being called "Miss Cora" just felt weird to her

"Can you uh, can you speak another language? Just...any language" Cora requested

" _Certainly. Pogoda na ulitse pryamo seychas priyatno teplo_ " FRIDAY replied promptly

"That was...Russian?" Cora guessed, though she didn't sound too sure

" _It was_ " FRIDAY confirmed

Cora and FRIDAY tried this in a few other languages before Tony finally spoke

"Ok...so you're definitely bilingual" Tony said with surprise

"Which doesn't feel all too surprising for some reason..." Cora replied thoughtfully

"You're not gonna go all Jason Bourne on me, are you?" Tony asked her, he was only half joking.

Cora glared at him, before she got a wicked look on her face

"Tony, how about we test my telekinesis?" she asked him with a scary glint in her dark brown eyes

"Uh...ok...?" Tony replied hesitantly

The look in Cora's eyes was scarily similar to a look that Pepper would get whenever he was being particularly annoying and inappropriate

"Good" Cora said before she thrust her hand up in his direction and said

"Beach!"

Tony disappeared in a swirl of sparkly blue/white lights and appeared on the beach that was closest to his Malibu home.

Thankfully no one was around to see that.

It would take Tony at least 20 minutes to walk back home.

Unless he summoned a suit.

"FRIDAY, where is Pepper today?" Cora asked as she walked out of the lab and headed upstairs

" _Miss Potts is in Vancouver for a Conference_ " FRIDAY informed smoothly

Pepper had been away on various business trips for nearly three weeks now, if she wasn't out of the country, she was in various meetings. Being the CEO of a company as large and successful as Stark Industries was no walk in the park, even if you knew exactly what you were doing.

 

 

While Tony helped Cora get a hang of her powers, and the two of them tried to discover her identity, they had been living in a blissful bubble of peace. Of sorts. Tony wanted to keep SHIELD and more importantly, the World Security Council, away from Cora, so he'd been keeping her hidden away in his large house. He knew that the Council would snap her up in ten seconds flat if they ever found out about her powers. He didn't trust SHIELD or the Council all too much to begin with, but after Rogers and Romanov discovered several HYDRA moles within SHIELD, and The Winter Soldier had publicly surfaced, he was even more distrustful of them. Tony wouldn't trust the Council with keeping a hamster alive to be honest, not after they sent a Nuke to take out the whole of New York City during the alien invasion.

Many HYDRA moles had been revealed in many different organisations. He was gleefully happy when Senator Stern had been exposed as an undercover HYDRA agent. Tony had celebrated for weeks and _really_ wanted to go after the man himself, but Pepper had persuaded him not to. Tony had hacked the Senator's servers and left a few interesting things for the authorities to find. He was content with screwing with the Senator one last time.

Pepper had been saddened to find out that Agent Sitwell was a HYDRA agent, she knew that the man had been Coulson's protégé for a long time. Coulson really hadn't taken that blow too well.

Thinking of Pepper, Tony wondered when his Girlfriend slash Soulmate was due back from her latest business trip.

"Friday, when's Pepper back?" Tony asked curiously

" _She'll be back tonight, Sir_ " FRIDAY answered promptly

"Ok, time's up" Cora announced as she got up from the chair she'd been sitting on. She put aside something that she was tinkering with and went over to Tony

"What do you mean?" Tony asked in curious confusion

"It's time for a break" Cora told him without preamble

Cora had started to force Tony to take regular breaks lately. If he didn't come upstairs willingly, she'd simply teleport herself and him upstairs and wouldn't let him go back down there for an hour minimum. Tony was quickly learning that it was best to just go along with her rather than try and get out of it.

"You know, you're very pushy, just like Pepper was when she was my assistant" Tony grumbled childishly as Cora grabbed his arm and started yanking him away from his desk. He quickly used his other hand to put down his things before he allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

Tony then got an idea

"Hey" was all Tony said as he let Cora pull him out of his lab

"Hey, what?" Cora said back as they headed upstairs

"You need a job, little Freeloader" Tony told her as they walked upstairs

"Little what?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow after turning to face him

"You're what...5ft'2, 5ft'3 at the tallest? You're little" Tony explained flippantly

"I noticed that, but what was the second part of your little comment?" she asked with her eyebrow still raised

"Oh you noticed that, huh?" Tony quipped as she casually walked into his living room and over to his couch

"Yes, I noticed" she retorted as Tony sat down without a care in the world

"I said you need a job" he replied, still using that flippant tone

Cora glared at him again

"Tony!" she practically growled in warning

"Aren't you bored?" Tony asked her instead of responding

"On occasion" she replied a little tersely as she went over and sat down beside Tony

"Well become my PA and be done with it" Tony said flippantly as he grabbed a remote and turned his TV on

Cora raised an eyebrow at him

"Were you like this when you offered Pepper a job?" Cora asked him curiously

"Yep" Tony replied simply, popping the 'p'

"It's a wonder you managed to hire any staff at all for your company" Cora snarked under her breath

"What was that?" Tony asked quickly

"Why would you want me as your PA? I don't even know if I have any experience being a PA" Cora asked instead of answering his question

"Well basically you'd be doing the same thing you've already been doing, plus a whole bunch of other boring stuff that I don't want to do" Tony explained

"Boring stuff, huh? How exciting" Cora quipped sarcastically

"Just take the job" Tony said as he channel surfed

Cora looked at him and said "fine" and that was that.

 

For the rest of the afternoon, Cora and Tony lazed around and watched movies and some TV shows. It wasn't long after 2pm that Cora fell asleep, so Tony put a blanket over her and snuck back downstairs to his lab.

By 7:30, Tony decided that it might be a good idea to go check on Cora, so he went back upstairs to find her still on the couch, fast asleep and snoring softly and head nearly buried completely under the blanket he'd put over her.

Cora wasn't fully recovered from her attack, despite what she'll stubbornly tell you, so using her powers a lot would wear her out quickly. She had to build up her energy tolerance again, which was going to take some time.

Pepper came in to see Tony carrying Cora, blanket and all, in his arms.

"Y'know Tony, when I said you should help her, I didn't mean adopt her" Pepper said softly with a smile and a shake of her head. She and Cora had been keeping in touch with each other, and a good friendship was developing nicely between them. Tony just shrugged as best as he could and took her to the spare bedroom that he'd given her.

"I haven't adopted her, I've hired her. She's going to be my new PA" Tony explained quietly


	2. "It's time to stop hiding The Girl, Stark"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long. I planned to finish and post this chapter sooner, but two roadblocks got in the way;
> 
> 1: Life  
> 2: My ADHD
> 
> Sorry for the wait, guys :/
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I know that there was no interaction between the main pairing yet, which will be Steve Rogers and my OFC Cora, but I promise you I'll get to that soon. Please enjoy and leave a little comment, I'd like to use feedback, positive and negative, to improve my writing. Comments are love, people =D
> 
> Also, no flames, people. I'll simply delete it as I have no patience for hate.

Life was gradually becoming better for Cora, her new job was actually a great distraction from the weird little niggling feeling that she felt inside her. It kept growing, and there were many times were she heard...well, it sounded like bells chiming. It wasn't constant, but kept coming and going. Cora is starting to think she's going mad. Another thing that was driving her a little batty was that every time she heard Tony mention his duties as an Avenger, finding out about the Battle of New York and the alien invasion was a huge shock, she felt this burning desire to go along and help. To help people, heal them and save them. But she didn't have an Iron Man suit, and she agreed with Tony that keeping her powers a secret was an absolute must. The thought of her powers being revealed filled her with panic and dread, actually.

Tony was fascinated by her powers, he kept nagging her to use them. To keep testing herself and pushing her limits with her powers.

"To protect yourself" he would tell her in explanation

And Cora knew that he wasn't going to betray her. She just got this vibe from him, a vibe that told her he was a good person. She seemed to be very good at reading people. Pepper was a good person too. Cora personally thought that the woman was a saint for putting up with Tony's antics for so many years.

"Tony, I'm stealing your assistant for the day" Pepper declared as she strode into Tony's lab one sunny Californian morning

"But why?" Tony asked with a pout, he was actually getting used to Cora's company while he worked on his experiments and gadgets.

"Because Cora hasn't really left this house since you brought her here. She can't stay cooped up in here forever, she'll go stir crazy if she hasn't already" Pepper explained

"We go outside!" Tony defended childishly, Pepper put her hands on her hips and gave her Soulmate a look

"Going to the beach doesn't count" Pepper told him dryly

Cora had forced Tony to take a day off every three days, and because it was nearly always sunny in Malibu, they went to the beach just behind Tony's mansion for the day.

"Fine, where are we going?" Tony asked after a beat

"You can go out and do things or you can stay here. Cora and I are having a girls day. She needs a break from you" Pepper explained

"Yes, sounds great. Let's go" Cora said quickly as she stood up and went to stand beside Pepper with a big grin on her face

"But I'm loads of fun!" Tony said childishly

"On occasion, but I can't just stay around you 24/7, Tony" Cora explained matter-of-factly

"Traitor!" Tony said to her with a childish glare

Cora rolled her eyes

"What's on the agenda today, Pep?" Cora asked as the two of them left Tony behind in his lab

"I was thinking a light breakfast before we do some shopping, then lunch at a spa in the afternoon. What do you think?" Pepper asked her

"Sounds heavenly, I could use a spa day. I've been getting this terrible headache off and on and it will be nice to just switch off my brain for a day" Cora said as they walked out the door

"Cora, this is Happy. He's my driver slash bodyguard. Happy this is Cora, she's Tony's new assistant" Pepper introduced with a smile

"Nice to meet you, Cora" Happy said with a smile

"Lovely to meet you, too. Tony talks about you from time to time. He likes to brag about beating you at sparring, though I don't know how entirely true his stories are" Cora said with a bright smile.

Happy laughed

"Yeah, never fully believe any story Mister Stark tells you. He's been known to exaggerate" Happy said with a grin

"So I've heard" Cora quipped with a laugh of her own

"So where to, ladies?" Happy asked as he went and held the door open to a very fancy looking Mercedes Benz that probably cost a fortune

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Spending the day with Pepper was heavenly. The food was divine, the shopping was fun, and getting a massage, a facial and a manicure and a pedicure was exactly what Cora needed to unwind and recharge herself. It made a wonderful distraction from the fact that she still had no idea who she was. She felt peaceful and happy when she returned to Tony's house with Pepper. It felt a little weird calling it her home.

Her happiness and relaxation was burst upon discovering Tony's guests.

"Tony, we're back!" Pepper called out as she and Cora walked through the door with Happy following behind. He had his arms full of shopping bags, too.

"And you have visitors, Coulson, hi!" Pepper said happily as she went over to a middle aged balding man in a suit and gave him a hug. The man had two other people with him, one of them, an Asian female with an observant gaze, and a taller male who was looking around at everything with curious eyes.

"Good seeing you again, Pepper" the man named Coulson said with a nod and a small smile on his face. His face didn't look very expressive

"I'm guessing that this isn't a social call" Pepper observed upon looking at Coulson's companions

"No, I'm afraid not" Coulson replied

"Well it was good seeing you, we should have lunch again sometime" Pepper said with a smile

"Definitely" Coulson replied with a nod of his head

"Well Agent is very busy being boring and annoying, so your chances aren't good" Tony piped up upon noticing Coulson's agents looking curiously at Cora

"Mister Stark-" Coulson began before Tony cut him off

"Come on, no Shop-Talk allowed in here, we have to go to my office. I hardly use it but it'll do" Tony said while Pepper went over to Cora and started picking up her shopping bags with Happy's help

"Who's that over there?" the tall agent with curious eyes asked while looking over at Cora.

That man gave her the creeps. Every time he looked at her, Cora felt a cold shiver run up and down her spine.

He didn't even look evil, but something about him really rubbed Cora the wrong way.

"My new PA, HR found her" Tony explained nonchalantly before walking off to his rarely used office. Coulson and his agents had no choice but to follow him

"So Agent, are those HYDRA goons talking?" Tony asked as he went and sat down on his chair

"They are, but they're not saying much" Coulson replied

"And who are these two?" Tony asked while looking at Coulson's agents

"This is Agent May and Agent Ward" Coulson explained

"What's with the entourage, Agent?" Tony asked curiously as he started flipping through a magazine that had been left on his desk

"No particular reason, just more eyes to observe. Fury doesn't want to send out any agents on their own these days" Coulson explained

"So what's up? It's been a little over a month now and you haven't showed up to try and drag my ass off to SHIELD HQ and force me into a briefing with Cyclops" Tony asked flippantly

"There have been some more HYDRA agents spotted in the area. And the two that you disabled keep talking about a girl" Coulson explained

"A girl?" Tony asked dubiously. "Do you know how many women try and stalk me on a regular basis?" he continued

"A lot,  but none of them know the possible location of the Winter Solider, Mister Stark" Coulson deadpanned.

That actually made Tony sit up straighter.

"You didn't see a girl the night you came upon those HYDRA agents, did you?" Coulson asked him with a raised eyebrow

"I did" Tony admitted

"But I didn't see her face or where she went after I took down those two agents" he continued

Coulson didn't look entirely convinced

"Would you know why HYDRA is fascinated with Malibu, and more specifically, the area around my house, all of a sudden?" Tony asked before Coulson could speak

"We don't know, perhaps they're looking for the Girl" Coulson replied with a knowing look at Tony

"Well...guess you guys better find her soon before HYDRA does" Tony said flippantly as he sat back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk.

Tony and Coulson spoke a bit more, mostly it was Coulson prodding Tony, trying to get him to give up and reveal where he was hiding the girl. Coulson strongly suspected that Tony's "new PA" was the exact same girl that those HYDRA Agents have been talking about non-stop. For some reason, Fury didn't want Coulson to outright demand that Tony hand the girl over.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

"Did he say much?" Fury asked right away after Coulson shut the door to his office

"No, not really. Just the usual evasive tactics he likes to use to piss everyone off. It worked on Ward" Coulson replied as he went and took a seat.

"Why are we being so delicate with Stark this time, Sir? Why not just go in and detain the girl?" Hill asked curiously. She was sat in the chair next to Coulson at this moment. Fury was stood at his window, looking outside with his arms crossed behind his back

"Because I don't want her on the Council's radar at the moment" Fury explained simply

"How much do they know?" Coulson asked curiously

"They know that there's a girl, but they don't know her name, what she looks like or where she is" Fury explained further

"Well we only know what she looks like and where she is" said Coulson

"Facial scans haven't turned up anything, yet?" Hill asked in surprise

"Nope, not a thing" Coulson confirmed with a shake of his head

"I need Stark to get the girl to Avengers' HQ as soon as possible" Fury said after turning around to face his two most trusted agents

"You think having her there is the best idea?" Hill asked dubiously

"It's the safest place for her to be. A lot of people are looking for the Winter Soldier and with the exception of Rogers, I don't want _any_ of them getting their hands on her" Fury said resolutely

Maria still didn't think it was the best idea.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

One sunny Tuesday afternoon, Cora was bored, and with an urge to be productive after being told to take the day off because her headaches kept coming back more often, she decided to bake something. Looking through Tony's cupboards and fridge in his very large kitchen, she couldn't decide on what she wanted to make. There was that, and the fact that she didn't know any recipes off the top of her head. So she went and grabbed a Stark Pad and surfed the internet. She eventually came across a recipe for Orange and Poppy Seed Muffins, which sounded and looked divine, so she thought _why not?_ , and went searching through Tony's cupboards and fridge again for the ingredients.

He had everything except one of the key ingredients-  oranges. This problem presented Cora with a secondary one- going outside alone. Tony wouldn't be happy if she did that, but she really wanted some oranges. And right now he was off with his friend Rhodey doing who knows what. Happy was with Pepper at Stark Industries, so she couldn't ask him for a lift anywhere, either.

_This is ridiculous, I'm a grown adult, I can go out and buy some damn oranges if I want to!_ Cora thought to herself as she Googled the location for the nearest supermarket. Once she'd found one, she grabbed some cash that Tony had given her. He'd set up a bank account for her, with a fake name and all that. But he always told her to carry some cash on her. Not much, just a little bit. His version of "little bit" was three hundred dollars. That seemed a bit too much to her, so she just grabbed a hundred in twenty dollar bills and put them in her purse that Pepper had suggested she buy two days ago. Next she Googled the location for the nearest bus stop before grabbing her phone and stuffing it in her pocket.

It wasn't that far of a walk to the bus stop, so she asked FRIDAY to lock the house and was on her way immediately after.

Cora really should've checked Bus times before she left, and she didn't even think to use her Stark Phone and check them. So she ended up waiting for ten minutes for the next bus. The ride to the supermarket was about the same amount of time, but Cora didn't mind. She enjoyed being around people, she didn't know why, but being in public made her feel safer.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

While Cora was off buying oranges, Tony had just walked into his house after spending the day with Rhodey. The man had come along and dragged him out of his own house, not so subtly calling him a hermit in the making as he forced Tony out into the sun. 

_Without_ a pair of sunglasses.

Savagery

"Ok, Cyclops" Tony said while looking around. His house was unusually dark and FRIDAY hadn't greeted him

"Show yourself" he continued as he closed his front door and went over to his living room

"It's time to stop hiding The Girl, Stark" Fury said as he stepped forward

"I'm not hiding "The Girl", Nick" Tony replied while mockingly saying "The Girl" using air quotes

"Your new PA, where is she?" Fury demanded without even blinking

" _Mister Stark's PA has gone out_ " Friday said suddenly

"Where?" Fury asked without missing a beat

" _You are not authorized for that information, Director Fury_ " Friday replied simply

"Stark, where's the girl?" Fury asked him again, this time he was very irritated, bordering on angry

"Out" was all Tony said, though internally he was worried.

He had asked Cora to try and not go outside on her own, especially while there were HYDRA Agents lurking about, and Cora had agreed.

"Out _where_?" Fury asked sternly

"Why do you need to know?" Tony asked stubbornly

"Because right now there's a HYDRA STRIKE Team on their way here to kill you and take the Girl god knows where!" Fury snapped angrily

"Friday, where's Cora?" Tony asked instantly

" _Cora went out to the local Super Market, Sir_ " Friday answered without preamble

"Does she have her phone?"

" _Yes, Sir_ "

"Send her a message, tell her to get back here ASAP" Tony requested urgently

"Her name is Cora?" Fury asked curiously

Tony gave him a look

"All I want is for you to get her to Avengers' HQ right away" Fury said with raised arms, Tony raised an eyebrow in surprise. 

He'd actually planned to do that after what Fury had just told him.

"So you don't want to haul her off to SHIELD HQ and stick her in a deep dark cell forever?"

Fury rolled his eyes

"No, Stark" was all he said

Tony was about to retort when Cora's voice echoed weirdly in the air

"Tony, Tony, ToNY!" she shouted before she appeared in a swirl of glowing blue/white lights.

When she landed on the ground with a squeal and a thud, Tony and Fury discovered that she wasn't alone.

"Get him off, get him off, get him _off_!" Cora shouted in an angry panic as she struggled to get Agent Ward off of her

Fury pulled his gun but Tony just ran forward and grabbed the Agent by the back of his shirt. He yanked as hard as he could, stopping the guy from restraining Cora, and pulled the guy off of her.

"Don't move a muscle, Agent!" Fury warned with his gun pointed levelly at Ward

Tony helped Cora to her feet

"Why did you bring him with you?" Tony asked curiously

"I _didn't_! He- he was _chasing me_ , then he caught up to me and tried to _drug me_! I didn't intend to bring him along with me!" Cora defended in a shaky and angry voice

"Agent Ward, you were told to stay away from the girl" Fury said accusingly to Ward

"Told by you and _Coulson_ , but not by my Boss. I've been ordered to bring her in" he said "Coulson" with an ugly sneer on his face, like it left a bad taste in his mouth

"Get out of my house!" Tony told Ward with a scary glint in his eyes

"Not without little Cora, here" Ward said with a crazed glint in his eyes before he lunged at Cora.

Three things happened simultaneously

Cora screamed

A gun shot rang out

And Cora threw her hands up and a blue force field bubble appeared around her, Tony and Fury.

Cora only managed to hold the force field in place for a short time

Ward was on the ground with a bullet hole in his shoulder

And Tony and Fury were _pissed_

"Get her to Avengers' HQ"

"Yeah"

 

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

 

 

" _Stark, it's been a while. Did you end up making yet another psycho AI robot that wants to end the world?_ " Clint Barton quipped over comms as Tony's private Chopper neared Avengers' Mansion.

Right now, he, Cora, Pepper and Happy were in the chopper, and all of them were tense.

" _Enough chatting, Bird-Brain, we've all got a new mission. One that Capsicle is going to be_ very _interested in_ " Tony said back

" _New Mission? What category?_ " Clint asked curiously, suddenly he was all business

" _This is full Black-Out, Agent Barton_ " Fury said over comms, he was at SHIELD HQ and patched in to this call at the moment. He had personally overseen Grant Ward's detainment and made sure he was securely locked away. He'd even posted Agent May at the door, no one would cross The Cavalry. The woman had more black belts than the Black Widow herself.

" _Yes, Sir. I'll call in an assemble_ " Clint replied immediately

" _Stark, how far away are you?_ " Clint asked after a beat

" _About 40 minutes_ " Tony answered immediately

" _And he has a guest. Get a room prepped and I'll be there to brief you all tonight_ " Fury added on

" _A guest, Sir?_ " Clint asked curiously, ever since the revelation of HYDRA moles, Clint has been asking a lot more questions instead of blindly following orders

" _To be protected at all costs_ " was all Fury gave as an answer

" _Yes, Sir_ " Clint replied promptly

" _Might need to give her one of the bigger rooms, or one near the bigger labs. She's got powers and a lot of them_ " Tony added on hesitantly

" _Can she control them?_ " Clint asked in a tight and scarily blank voice

" _Most of the time. Just don't go around scaring her_ " Tony answered

" _Most of the time?!_ " Clint asked in slight panic and accusation

" _They're kinda similar to Witchy's powers_ " Tony added on

" _Wanda's powers?_ " 

" _Yeah, I've got heaps of footage, we'll grab some popcorn and have a movie night, it'll be fun_ " Tony answered flippantly

" _Stark!_ " Clint started to say in warning

Clint got very testy about powers like Wanda's, it seemed to make him more protective of Nat and very suspicious of Wanda. But he was working on that.

So he's been telling everyone

" _Just **don't** scare her and you'll be fine_ " Tony explained simply

Tony and Clint thought that Fury had disconnected the call on his end, so they both actually jumped when Fury spoke up suddenly

" _I want a copy of that footage, Stark_ " Fury demanded before he actually hung up

" _Being shot at makes him such a ray of sunshine_ " Tony quipped under his breath

" _Being shot at? Who shot at him? What happened?_ " Clint asked in curious confusion

" _Long story, Legolas. I'll be there soon to give you all the goss, don't worry. Oh and by the way, I've got Pepper and Happy with me. Happy's gonna need a room, too_ " Tony said before he hung up

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

"Tony, will this "Fury" guy rat me out to Uncle Sam?" Cora asked in a curious and dread-filled tone. Every time she heard the word/name "Fury" it gave her a funny feeling, and not the good kind of funny feeling

"Not unless he enjoys migraines and having no access to a working computer for the foreseeable future" Tony replied instantly.

"Why are you squirming? You're perfectly safe here and we're going to a place that's even safer" Tony asked her curiously

"Well being chased, nearly abducted, and then shot at by Nazi terrorists tends to make most people tense, Tony!" Cora snapped irritably.

"I'm sorry, I just feel antsy. I'm feeling a little weird, is all" Cora apologised sheepishly.

Happy noticed with a knowing smirk that Cora kept clutching her right wrist and rubbing it.

"Is your wrist tingling, Cora?" Happy asked her with a knowing grin that seemed to put Cora at ease

"It is, I've never felt that before" Cora said as she continued rubbing her Soulmark

"You must be getting close to your Soulmate, then" Pepper said with a smile, having caught on to what Happy was getting at. 

Cora's eyes widened in surprise

"My Soulmate?" she asked in surprise as she looked down at her wrist and turned her wrist over to look at her Soulmark.

The words " ** _Ma'am, w_** _ **hat would** you **like to do?**_ " were written in inky black cursive on the inside of her right wrist.

Cora swore that the words looked a little brighter around the edges...

"Well would you look at that, happy news. We should celebrate" Tony said in surprise

"I think we should get Cora to safety, first" Pepper said before she looked out the window, where Avengers' Mansion was quickly coming into view.

"Oh, there's Thor!" Pepper said suddenly as she saw Thor land back on Earth using that "Bi-frost" device. Happy and Cora quickly went over to Pepper's side and looked out the widow themselves.

"Someone should bring in Thor's girlfriend" Tony said then

"And his girlfriend's assistant" he continued as he flicked a message to Barton

"Yeah cool, great idea, Tony" Cora said distractedly as she continued to ogle Thor from above

"Ok, enough ogling of the Demi-God. We're about to land" Tony said with a clap of his hands. Cora and Happy moved away from the window and went back to their seats to strap in for landing.

Tony saw his fellow team mates all assemble on the landing pad just as his chopper touched down.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

"Brucey! Gonna need your help on some stuff" Tony said right away as he went over to Bruce and clapped his Science-Bro on the shoulder

"Sit rep, Stark" Tasha told him matter-of-factly as she strode past him and into the Briefing Room

"What has happened?" Thor asked curiously, he'd only just been made aware of a new mission

"We're waitin on Tony to start talking" Clint explained

Right now the Avengers were all assembled in the Briefing Room within Avengers Mansion. Happy and Pepper were getting a tour of Avengers Mansion from Coulson's Soulmate, Skye, and Cora was standing just outside the door to the Briefing Room. Wanda and Pietro were sitting on chairs near the back of the room. Pietro was sitting back with his feet up on the large glass table, and Wanda was talking to Vision, who had just gone over and sat next to her.

"Ok guys, we'll start now" Tony said as he motioned for Cora to come into the room. She did so quickly, rushing over and grabbing a seat right next to Tony. Who was now stood at the head of the table. She felt very self-conscious with everyone's curious eyes on her right now.

And her Soulmark was tingling a lot, too. It was making her anxious.

Everyone took a seat and sat up, paying focused attention to Tony. Cora noticed how their curious gazes kept flicking over to her every now and again.

"Ok, so a couple of months ago I stumbled across a couple of HYDRA Agents chasing a girl through the streets" Tony began

"I am guessing that this girl would be the one sitting next to you?" Pietro guessed with a nod of his head directed at Cora after removing his feet from the table

"Yep, got it in one, kid" Tony confirmed with a nod of his head

"Why were they chasing her?" Thor asked curiously

"I didn't know the reason at the time, by the time I caught up with her she was heavily injured and very near death. The two HYDRA Agents were disabled, but not entirely by me" Tony explained before he pressed a button on the table. A clear holo-screen appeared in front of the large glass window on the right side of the room. On that screen was some very grainy footage that showed Tony running towards a corner of a house, then it showed a man being thrown into a wall of another house. He'd been surrounded by blue/white lights the whole time he'd been in the air.

"Who did that?" Clint asked curiously

"I did" Cora admitted, everyone turned and looked at her

"How?" Wanda asked curiously, she was intrigued now

Cora shrugged

"I used my powers. I don't know how I got them or why I have them" Cora explained simply

"Why is HYDRA after you? Did they give you your powers?" Pietro asked in a tight and borderline accusing tone.

Cora shook her head

"I don't think they did. The whole time I was being chased by those agents, I didn't use my powers. When they caught up to me and I finally did use them, they looked very surprised" Cora explained

"Do you know why they're after you?" Tasha asked her

"Yes, but I only found out why an hour ago" Cora explained

"Ok...so why does HYDRA want you?" asked Clint

"Because she knows where the Winter Soldier is" Tony answered for her.

Nearly everyone sat up at attention upon hearing this information.

" _What?!_ " Tasha asked in shock as she stood up abruptly from the table. It was only recently that everyone else except Clint had discovered Tasha's past with the Winter Soldier. How he'd been working with the Red Room, how he'd personally trained Tasha for a time while she was there. As well as the whole being shot while protecting an Iranian Engineer incident.

"You _can't_ be serious?!"

"Why didn't you start off with that information?!"

"How is she still alive?!"

"How do we know she's not a deep cover HYDRA mole?!"

"We need to get her contained, _now!_. We don't know the full extent of her powers, _or_   what her motives are!"

Everyone was getting louder and more riled up, so Tony put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. 

Everyone winced and shut up.

Steve hadn't said a word the entire time. He looked shell-shocked

"Ok, now that you guys have got that out of your system, you'll shut up and listen" Tony said with an annoyed glare directed at everyone.

"HYDRA is after Cora here because she _knew_ the location of the Winter Soldier. And I say "knew" because she sustained a head injury and now she has amnesia. She's been staying with me, and working as my assistant, for a little over three months now, and none of her memories have really come back, at all" Tony explained after a beat

"So...to sum things up; the location of one of the most _dangerous_ assassins in the world is locked inside the mind of an amnesiac" Clint deadpanned

"I might be able to help her regain her memories" Wanda suggested

"That would be a breach of her mind" said Bruce

"I would not use my powers on her without her permission" Wanda said defensively, things between her and Bruce were still quite tense since the whole Wanda making Hulk freak out incident.

"We need to know where The Winter Soldier is" Clint started to say before Tasha cut in

"There are other ways of helping her regain her memory" she said tightly. Her mind starting to go back to that dark place that Wanda had once lead it to.

"I think we should ask her" Steve said in a no-nonsense tone

Steve then looked Cora straight in the eye

"Ma'am, what would _you_ like to do?" he asked her firmly

Cora's eyes nearly bulged out of her head

"I...I want my memories back" was all she managed to say

Steve's eyes widened as soon as she spoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, please please PLEASE tell me if Cora comes across as a Mary Sue in ANY WAY. I ABHOR Mary Sues so obviously I'd like to avoid them like the plague


	3. "She Orbed!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a horrible person, I know.
> 
> So sorry for the wait. It's been a very busy time these past few months at work. And at home? Well...I'm just gonna tell you that my ADD is a b*tch and leave it at that

Cora woke up slowly in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. It took her mind a few minutes to work out where she was. Once she remembered, she yawned loudly and opened her bleary eyes. She was still exhausted, and hadn't gotten to sleep that quickly last night. Yesterday's, and last night's, events had been harrowing to say the least.

"Friday?" Cora asked as she continued to lay in the very large, and very comfy, bed

" _Yes, Cora?_ " Friday replied promptly

"This suite has it's own bathroom, yeah?" asked Cora

" _It does, shall I warm the floor up for you? The weather will be quite cold today_ " Friday replied instantly

Cora let out a heavy sigh before replying

"Yes please" was all she said before she sat up.

Cora was slow to get ready, but once she was, she felt awake. Tired, but awake.

" _Cora?_ " Friday said right as Cora had finished changing into some comfy day clothes

"Yes?" she said while looking up at the ceiling

" _Captain Rogers is outside, he wants to know if he can speak with you?_ " Friday informed her

Panic and excitement flooded through her all at once. She suspected that he was going to ask her about his friend again, she felt so guilty that she didn't know where he was.

"Umm...ok, let him in" Cora agreed after a heavy pause

The door to her suite was unlocked and the Captain knocked as he opened the door

"Ma-Miss Cora?" he said hesitantly as Cora went over to greet him

"You can just call me Cora" she said with a friendly, but nervous, smile

"Um, ok. Cora" the captain said awkwardly

"Come in and sit down" Cora invited as the captain closed the door behind him

"Thanks" he said as he followed Cora to the lounge room in her suite

"Please don't ask me about your friend" Cora blurted as soon as they sat down on the overly comfy couch

"I wasn't going to ask" the captain said honestly

Cora sighed in relief

"I'm sorry, but with everything that happened yesterday, and with all the questions that Agent Barton kept asking me, I'm still feeling a little wrung out" Cora explained apologetically. "And guilty" she added on in a quieter tone

"You shouldn't feel guilty. What happened to you isn't your fault" the captain told her sincerely

"Yeah..." Cora muttered quietly while looking down and away for a moment

"Anyway, have you had breakfast?" Cora asked him after a moment as she looked back up at his very handsome face

"No, I haven't actually" he admitted with a friendly smile. He looked a little relieved at the change of subject.

"Great, let's go get some" Cora said with a friendly smile of her own before they both got up and left Cora's new suite.

"Stevie, Stevie, STEVIE!" a young woman shouted as she rounded the corner and ran up to Steve

"Darcy, how many times have I told you _not_ to call me "Stevie"?" Steve asks the young woman with an exasperated sigh as the woman in question hid behind Steve's back

"Too many. Now hide me" the woman named Darcy said distractedly as she clutched onto Steve's back and looked around for someone

"Who are you hiding from this time?" Steve asked Darcy simply

"No one!" Darcy answered a little too quickly

"No one? Riiiiight" Steve retorted in disbelief.

" _Lewis!? When I find you, you're gonna be beyond sorry!_ " Tony threatened in a rage over an intercom

"Friday, don't you _dare_ rat me out!" Darcy begged with a hiss

"Did you mess with Tony's coffee?" Cora asked curiously. She'd only ever heard Tony this angry on one occasion, and that was when Butterfingers put salt in his coffee instead of sugar the one time Tony made his robot make him a coffee

"Yep" Darcy replied without shame or hesitation. "Hi, I'm Darcy. You must be the girl that's got Barton's panties in a twist" Darcy introduced herself

"Yup, that's me. I'm Cora, by the way" Cora said with a smile and a nod

"Don't mind Clint, he's just going through some shit. Tasha will get his head straight eventually" Darcy said reassuringly

"I get the feeling that he doesn't like me very much" Cora admitted as the three of them walked down the hallway. Darcy was still clutching onto Steve's back

"Oh, he's just being a bit of a scared dick right now. Just play a few rounds of Mario Kart with him, let him win a few rounds, and then he'll warm up to you. He has the same issue with Wanda and her powers" Darcy explained. "But he's working on them" Darcy assured her after a beat

"Good tip, thanks a lot" Cora said with a nod of her head. She wasn't too sure how to feel about Agent Barton just yet. She got the sense that he was a good person, but he was very on edge at the moment

"He's coming around, and doing a lot better" Darcy added on as they rounded a corner and went to breakfast

"You seem very sure?" Cora commented with a raised eyebrow

Darcy just shrugged

"I'm good at reading people, always have been" she explained simply

"Stark, stop bitching and just make your damn coffee" Black Widow said irritably after sipping her own coffee in the very large and high tech kitchen

"You try drinking salty coffee made from generic brand coffee beans. _Generic brand_!" Tony grumbled childishly

"And yet you lived" Cora commented without thinking

A young Asian looking woman snorted with laughter

"I like this one, what's your name?" she asked Cora with a big grin on her face. Right now she was standing in front of Agent Coulson, who was sitting on a stool and had an arm wrapped casually around her.

"I'm Cora" she answered with a friendly smile, she felt more at ease at the moment

"I'm Daisy, nice to meet you" the woman named Daisy said with a nod of her head

"You're gonna pay for that, Lewis" Tony threatened as Darcy sauntered over to Doctor Banner and pecked him on the cheek without a care in the world. Banner's cheeks went bright red, but he didn't say anything.

"Pay for what?" Pietro asked suddenly. Cora jumped a mile, she hadn't seen him come in

"For messing with my coffee. Again!" Tony grumbled

"How...how did-? When did you get in here?" Cora asked Pietro in shock and disbelief

"Just now, I am very fast" Pietro explained with a cocky grin

"His thing is Super-Speed. We'll be doing a show and tell later this afternoon. Cyclops, Agent, and Bird-Brain wanna see you strut your stuff, C" Tony explained flippantly

"I'm excited to see your teleporting abilities. They looked awesome!" the guy Tony had referred to as "Bug Boy" said with a big grin on his face. Cora had found out from Friday that his name was actually Scott Lang, and his Superhero Alias was Ant-Man

"Um, thanks" Cora said shyly

She wasn't too sure on how to feel about her powers at the moment

****

**_~A Merging Of Souls~_ **

 

Cora let out a deep, loud sigh of frustration.

She was lost. Again

She had told Tony that she wanted to explore after lunch, before the "Show and Tell" event. Tony had offered to show her around, as had Steve and a few others, but Cora had declined. She still felt overwhelmed, and wanted some alone time to psych herself up for this afternoon. So she'd gone exploring in this massive...could you even call it a Mansion when it looked like a top secret government facility? From above, it looked like Area 51. Apparently there were some things that stuck in Cora's mind. Though why she'd remember something as inane and random as _Area 51_ , and not her own damn name, was puzzling to her.

Somehow, Cora had ended up outside.

_Thank goodness I rugged up today_ , Cora thought with a shiver as she pulled her cardigan tighter around herself. It wasn't too cold, but that wind felt like ice. Winter was definitely getting close.

"Lost?" a voice said from behind her

Cora whirled around in surprise to see Daisy standing there with an understanding smile on her face

"Maybe a little" Cora admitted

"Ah, that's ok. I've been living here for a while now and I _still_ get lost" she said reassuringly

"This place is massive" Cora said while looking around

"I know, I've never seen anything like it" Daisy admitted

"So how do you know The Avengers?" Cora asked curiously

"I'm Agent Coulson's Soulmate, and well..." Daisy explained before trailing off

"It's put a target on your back?" Cora guessed understandingly

"Yeah...you could say that" Daisy said with a little hesitance

"Oh! Looks like it's Show and Tell time for you. I'll show you to the lab" Daisy said after looking at her phone after it buzzed

"Lab!?" Cora asked in surprise and slight panic

"Don't worry, they're not gonna turn your into a lab rat. That's just the room they use to test out superpowers. It's also where people go when they need to let loose and vent. Doctor Banner goes in there when he needs to Hulk Out" Daisy explained reassuringly

"So it must be very secure, then" Cora commented as the two of them made their way back inside and towards the lab. Tony had shown her some footage of The Hulk, as well as the rest of the Avengers. She was very shocked to learn of the _Alien_ invasion. When Tony first mentioned it, she thought he was joking. But apparently she'd been wrong

"Very, the whole Mansion can go on full lock down if there's an emergency of the Hulk variety. Not even a rocket launcher could break through the walls if someone were to try and get in from the outside during a lock down" Daisy explained.

"Wow" was all Cora could say in response

****

**_~A Merging Of Souls~_ **

 

Cora stopped short once she walked in the doorway to the lab. It was _huge_. She had no idea what the walls were made of, but they looked impenetrable. _They'd have to be if they can contain The Hulk_ , Cora reasoned. In one corner of the large room, there was a bunch of large wooden crates. Easily destructible for the Hulk, no doubt. There was all sorts of objects around the room, for various different activities.

"You ready for your fifteen minutes of fame, C?" Tony asked her suddenly, breaking her out of her reverie. It was only then that Cora noticed she had her mouth hanging open, and the Avengers, as well as Director Fury, and Agent Coulson was in the room. All of them were looking at her. Some of them had looks of understanding on their faces, others looked wary. Director Fury just looked impatient, and the woman standing next to him also looked impatient, and distrustful. She shut her mouth immediately

"Uh, yeah. I'm ready" Cora answered quietly

Daisy went up a set of metal stairs and stood next to where Cora now noticed Darcy and Doctor Foster standing up on a metal balcony. They were looking down at everyone with a look of keen interest. Darcy looked excited.

"Let's get this started" Fury said from his spot near a wall

"Ok, to be fair, we're gonna have everyone participate in show and tell. So, Speedster, strut your stuff" Tony said before looking at Pietro.

Pietro walked over to the middle of the room before he practically disappeared. He ran around the room with impossible speed. And the only way anyone could see him was from the blue lines of light that appeared behind him. Seconds later, he was stood back in the centre of the room with a cocky grin on his face.

Cora still couldn't believe how fast he could move.

"Ok, Brucey, you're up" Tony said with a shit eating grin

"I really don't think that's a wise idea" was all Doctor Banner gave as an answer

"No it's not, move on" Fury ordered tersely.

Cora noticed Agent Barton staring at her with narrowed eyes, which made her uncomfortable.

"Ow!" he said moments later after Agent Romanov hit him in the stomach

"Stop being an ass" was all she said

"I'll go next" Cora said before Agent Barton could say anything

"I'll play volunteer for this" Tony said immediately

"Why do you need to volunteer?" the brunette woman standing next to Fury asked curiously with her blue eyes narrowed in suspicion

"Because she can teleport people as well as objects and herself" Tony explained

"I'll show you the teleporting thing first" Cora said decisively.

She went over to the centre of the room, took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Everyone was watching her with baited breath. Cora ignored them all, and took another deep breath before teleporting herself over to where Tony stood.

Cora was about to teleport herself back to the centre of the room when Daisy spoke.

"She _Orbed!_ " she blurted loudly

Everyone looked up at Daisy, who now had her hand over her mouth.

"Oh shit, did I say that out loud?" Daisy asked sheepishly

"Oh yes, you very much did, Miss Johnson" was Fury's reply. "Why don't you come on down here an explain yourself?" Fury suggested, though it sounded more like an order than an actual request.

Cora noticed that Coulson didn't look too surprised, just a little frustrated.

"Uh, that "teleporting thing" is actually called Orbing. I know this because I can do that too" Daisy explained before she teleported herself down to where Cora and Tony stood

"Can you teleport other people, too?" Tony asked curiously

"In a way, I mean I have to be touching them to do that" Daisy explained

"So...not like this? Cora, teleport me outside the room" Tony requested

Cora simply nodded her head, thrust her hand up at Tony and said "Hallway". He disappeared in a swirl of blue/white lights. Moments later her opened the door to the lab and walked back over to where Cora and Daisy stood with everyone else

"Ok, I can't do that. That must mean she's a Witch" Daisy said then

"A witch?" the brunette standing next to Fury asked dubiously. Daisy looked hesitant to reply for a moment

"I hate my mouth sometimes" was all she said in response

"Daisy" Agent Coulson prodded with a disapproving frown. Daisy rolled her eyes

"Oh screw it, I've already opened my mouth" she said before she teleported herself back to where Darcy and Jane were. She put a hand on their arms, and then teleported the three of them back down to where everyone else stood.

"That felt weird" Jane said while rubbing her stomach

"You guys have to _promise_ that what I tell you won't leave this room!" Daisy demanded

"Done, now start talking" was Agent Barton's curt reply

"Ok, the reason I said Cora must be a witch is because Whitelighters can't Orb people around like that. I'm not a full Whitelighter, I'm a half Whitelighter, so I'm half human. In a way. The fact that Cora can Orb people out of rooms just by throwing up her hand means her Wiccan power is telekinesis, and it works differently because of her Whitelighter half" Daisy explained

"What's a "Whitelighter" and how do you know that Cora is one?" Steve asked curiously

"A Whitelighter is kind of like a guardian angel, or a guide, for good witches. They're immortal, and not human. In a way they're kinda dead, but they have corporeal forms, sort of need to eat and drink and sleep, and well, they have a humanoid appearance. Believe me, if Cora was a full Whitelighter, her physical injuries would've healed themselves seconds after she was injured. And she also wouldn't have amnesia" Daisy explained

"What do you mean these things are "kinda dead"?" Tasha asked in mild alarm

"Well they used to be human, then they died, and were offered the chance to become a Whitelighter. If the person says yes, they become a Whitelighter, if they say no, they stay "dead" and go to heaven" Daisy explained.

"So...I'm half human?" Cora asked in disbelief

"Yup. You may not remember anything about yourself or your family, but I can tell you that one of your parents is, or was, a Whitelighter, and the other parent is or was a Witch. And by the way, "Witch" isn't a gender specific term. Warlock's aren't human, and are evil. Wizards aren't human, have long lifespans, and are nearly extinct anyway" Daisy explained

"So there's no possibility that one of her parents is...Muggle?" Barton asked curiously

"Well...there's a small possibility. I mean, magic _can_ skip generations. But Cora _definitely_ has magic in her family tree somewhere. I'd say one of her Grandparents was a Witch at the very least" Daisy elaborated

"Huh" was all Cora could say

"How does your telekinesis work?" Wanda asked curiously. " _I_ am telekinetic, I want to know if yours work the same way" Wanda elaborated

"Here, I will show you" Wanda said to Cora before she went over to the large crates and started moving her hands around. Red energy came from her hands and went over to the crates. She weaved and wove the energy around her fingers and the crates as they lifted in the air.

"How do your teleporting powers work, exactly?" Jane asked curiously, her mind going through all sorts of scientific possibilities.

"A Witch's powers are tied to their emotions, for starters" Darcy piped up

"How do _you_ know that?" Daisy asked curiously. Darcy shrugged

" _Like this_ " she said, but she hadn't spoken aloud. She'd somehow said that in everyone's heads. Though to Thor it sounded a little distorted

" _How_ did you do that?!" Clint asked in alarm

"I'm a Witch, and my Wiccan power is telepathy. And don't worry, I'm _not_ in everyone's heads all the time" Darcy explained and then assured.

"Well isn't this fun. Does anyone else have any more superpowers that they'd like to share with the group?" Fury asked snarkily. Everyone looked at Jane

"Oh no, I don't have any powers" she said with a shake of her head

"Let's see what else you can do, Cora" Tony said with a nudge to her arm.

"Ok" she said as she got an idea. She went over to the crates and tried to imitate the hand movements that Wanda had made. She focused in on one crate and tried to get it airborne as a start. It wasn't working, she could get the blue lights around it, but she wasn't able to raise it into the air. Clearly this would take some practice

"Hey Quake, what other Whitelighter powers do you have?" Tony asked curiously

"Lots, why?" she asked while continuing to watch Cora test out her powers.

"Do you guys have some sort of bilingual power?" he asked thoughtfully

"Yeah, it's called Omnilingualism. Which basically means we can automatically understand, read and write fluently in any language we come across without having any previous knowledge of it" Daisy explained. "Why do you ask?" Daisy asked after a beat

"Cause Cora started speaking Chinese a while ago, we both thought she was getting some memories back. But she doesn't have any memories of learning Chinese" Tony explained.

****

**_~A Merging of Souls~_ **

 

A bead of sweat trickled down Cora's forehead as she focused on the cushion in front of her. She had her hands raised and pointing at it. It was surrounded with blue orbs for only a moment, and she managed to get it to float for a few seconds, before the blue orbs disappeared and the cushion dropped back down onto the couch. Daisy had been teaching her so much about her Wiccan powers, and so had Darcy. Jane, Tony and Bruce had been listening in eagerly. Their scientist minds coming to all sorts of conclusions, no doubt. Thor was also fascinated with their magic, he had no idea that there were Witches on "Midgard" as he called it.

"That's incredible" a voice said from behind her. Cora turned around in her seat to see Steve standing next to another couch in the communal lounge room.

"I feel like it would be if I could get my powers to work" Cora griped with a sigh of frustration

"You'll get there, it just takes practice" Steve said reassuringly as he went and sat on the couch near Cora. Unknowingly echoing Daisy's and Darcy's encouragements from earlier.

"Yeah..." Cora said quietly. "I'm sorry I don't remember where your friend is" Cora said after a few beats of silence. Steve perked up at the mention of his childhood friend

"That's ok, it's not your fault" he assured her

"Sometimes I feel like it is. I saw the look on your face when Tony said I knew where the Winter Soldier was" Cora admitted

"It's _not_ your fault. You didn't get amnesia on purpose" Steve said kindly

"That's true" Cora conceded. "Argh!" Cora clutched her head with both hands

"What's wrong?" Steve asked in concern

"I don't know...I just keep hearing this ringing sound in my head and it's giving me a headache" Cora complained as she massaged her temples.

"Friday, could you ask Daisy to come in here, now!" Steve asked urgently as he moved closer to Cora and ran his hands up and down her arms. He was careful not to touch her bare skin, he wouldn't initiate the Bond unless she wanted to.

" _Right away, Captain_ " Friday replied promptly

Minutes later Daisy orbed into the room

"What is it?" Daisy asked in concern, she'd brought Darcy with her

"She's got a headache" Steve said immediately

"She's hearing this ringing noise over and over in her head" Darcy explained

"That's a- I know what that is!" Daisy said as she and Darcy went over to Cora

"What is it!?" Cora asked irritably

"It's basically a call. You must have a Charge, and they're calling for you" Daisy explained

"A charge?" Steve asked in confusion

"A Charge is a person, mortal or human, that a Whitelighter has been assigned to provide guidance or protection. There are a few Half-Whitelighters who have Charges. Cora must be one of them" Daisy explained as everyone else came into the room.

"Ok, great, it's a call. Now how do I shut it up?!" Cora asked irritably

"You have to go to your Charge" Daisy answered as if it was obvious.

"How does she do that?" Steve asked before Cora could let out a biting remark

"In a word? Mediate, find your centre, then find your Charge. You have to listen to them, let them tell you where they are" Daisy explained.

"Argh! It's getting louder!" Cora complained as she massaged her temples

"Is there anything I can do to help her with this? I mean, would the Soulmate Bond allow me to "share the burden"?" Steve asked desperately

"I don't think so. Because it's _her_ powers, not yours" Daisy said sadly

"But her power's are tied to her emotions and the Soulmate Bond has an empathic link between Soulmates. Couldn't he "share" some of the pain associated with a Charge's call?" Darcy theorised

"That's a good point, but right now that won't be possible. Once a Soulmate Bond is initiated, constant physical contact has to be maintained for the next 48 hours. The only way to stop Cora's Charge's call right now would be for her to go to her Charge right away" Daisy explained

"Ok, talk me through it" Cora requested after taking a deep breath


End file.
